Ally Against The Darkness
by IsildurBlack
Summary: (Prologue-chapter 12!)A group of Jedi are ejected from hyperspace in a time outside their own in a place far far away, The year is 2260, the place... Babylon 5!
1. Prologue

**Ally Against The Darkness**

By Jonathon "Isildur" Riley

©2002 Ghetto Films Productions

**Prologue**

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Captain John Sheridan stood on the bridge of his ship, Whitestar 1.  It was the fastest ship in the fleet.  He shouted out, "Fire the forward guns, 20 by 15 by 32!"  A brilliant flash exploded across the bridge as the shadow fighter exploded and dissipated.  "Good job, Lennier, what would I do without you and the Minbari?" he said to his second in command.  

Lennier responded, "I do not know, captain, but since it is an irrelevant question, I do not know why you would ask."  

Sheridan shook his head at the Minbari warrior.  "Bring her about, and open the jump gate."

Whitestar 1 swiftly turned on its axis as flew off through space, all of a sudden a jump gate opened in front of the ship.  It was blue-tinted, rather than it's normal reddish-orange color, that an entrance gate has.  Sheridan gasped as he realized that enemy fighters were incoming.  Out of the gate flew 26 Shadow Fighters.  The immediately began firing their weapons.  The Whitestar began flying evasive maneuvers, dodging as much fire as possible.  

Suddenly a blast hit the tail end of the Whitestar and sent it spinning out of control.  "Regaining lateral controls..." Linnier stated as he waved his hand around at his command post touching differently shaped crystals protruding from the surface.  Sheridan looked over at him, and smiled as he looked out at the enemy fighters.  

"Lock target...Fire!" John shouted as he saw the stream of energy blasts hit the Shadow vessel.  "Fire!" he shouted again, and the fighter erupted in a cloud of sparks and twisted metal.

All of a sudden a 4 jump points formed behind the shadow vessels and 10 Whitestars-class cruisers flew out with their forward-guns firing.  The shadow vessels were almost instantly destroyed as Linnier said, "Incoming transmission...its Delenn!"  John looked up and saw his fiancée come onto the screen.  

He smiled as she said, "I thought you could use a little help, the rangers spotted a group of fighters heading your way, so we investigated."  

Sheridan responded, "Thanks, we need all the help we can get."  He walked over to his second in command, and pat the Minbari on the shoulder, and then he said, "Mister Lennier, open the jump gate, and jump when ready.  Destination...Babylon 5"  

Lennier said, "Yes, captain."  Whitestar 1 flew into the gate and was soon followed by the other 10 ships.

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Back on Babylon 5, John ran up to Delenn and gave her a big hug.  They walked together through customs and were greeted by Michael Garibaldi and Dr. Stephen Franklin.  "Hey, John, I heard you got yourself into a slight mess on your mission to Proxima 3," Michael said. 

 John laughed and said, "Yeah, just a little...How are things going here?  Has Ivanova messed anything up yet?" 

"As a matter of fact, No," a female voice said from behind John.  It was of course Commander Susan Ivanova.  

"You know I was only kidding Susan, you are a great commander," he said as he turned around and gave her a big smile.  He then looked over at Delenn and took her by the arm.  "Shall we?" he asked her as he began to lead her toward their quarters.

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As John sat down and began to relax, his comm unit beeped at him.  "Go ahead." He said into the transceiver on his wrist.  Delenn looked over at him with wonder as she began disrobing.

"Captain, there is a unscheduled jump gate forming, Starfuries are launching.  What the... The ships, they are like nothing I've ever seen before, you should get up here, fast!" Ivanova said to him.  

"Sorry Delenn, but I have to go," he said to her, "Ivanova wouldn't call if it weren't urgent."  He threw his shirt on and walked out the door while straightening his hair.

Sheridan ran to the bridge and looked out the view port and saw what appeared to be large silver triangles and what appeared to be an escort of Starfuries, but the Starfuries were different. 

 "Incoming transmission from the lead ship, translating...wait, its English," Ensign Ronald Ruel said puzzled as he worked the communications station.  

"Patch it through." John said as he looked up at the screen.  The image of a man, about 40 years old, with slightly graying hairs, appeared on the screen.  

He said, "My name is Luke Skywalker, I am a Jedi Knight, please identify yourselves."  

John swiftly responded, "I am Captain John Sheridan, formerly of Earth Force, what business brings you to Babylon 5?"  

Luke responded, "Babylon 5?  Is that what you call this magnificent ship of yours?  Oh well, anyways, I do not know what we are doing here, we encountered some turbulence while flying through hyperspace and we were ejected here.  And what is Earth Force by the way?  Do you mind if I head over?"

"By all means," he said to Luke as the comm turned off.  "Clear him for landing and have the Starfuries escort him in.  And keep an eye on those ships, make sure they don't try anything," he said to Ivanova as he left for the council chambers.  He tapped his comm and said, "Delenn...Meet me in the council chambers, it seems we have a surprise guest."


	2. A Few New Friends

**Chapter 1 – A Few New Friends**

  
  


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Michael Garibaldi looked up at the Jedi as he approached customs. "Please remove any weapons you may be carrying," he said as Luke walked up to the scanner. Luke removed his lightsaber from his belt and reluctantly placed it on the counter.   
  
"You'll get it back when you leave," Michael said to him.   
  
"Thank you..." Luke said to the Chief of Security.   
  
"Michael Garibaldi, Chief of Security, and you are?" Garibaldi quickly responded.   
  
"Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, and these lovely ladies are," Luke said as he pointed to the women behind him, "Mara Jade Skywalker, my wife, and Leia Organa Solo, my sister"   
  
"I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations, I am fluent in over 6 million forms of communication, and this is my counterpart, Artoo-Detoo," C-3PO said to the air, since Garibaldi wasn't paying attention to him.   
  
"Pleasure to meet you, Captain Sheridan is waiting for you, I'll escort you there myself," Michael said to them.   
  
Mara and Leia placed their lightsabers and blasters on the counter and soon followed Luke and Garibaldi. C-3PO and R2-D2 were quickly on their heels. The customs officer took their weapons and placed them in a small bin and placed it into the storage facility.   
  


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John Sheridan and Delenn stood as the doors opened. Luke, his wife, his sister, and the 2 droids walked into the room and Garibaldi smiled as the door closed. John approached Luke and extended his hand. Luke openly took it as they shook hands. Delenn bowed slightly and Luke returned the bow.   
  
"Luke, this is Delenn, Ambassador to the Minbari," John said as he pointed to his fiancée.   
  
"Pleasure to meet you Delenn. This is my wife, Mara Jade," Luke said as he pointed to Mara and then he pointed to Leia, "and this is my sister, Senator Leia Organa Solo."   
  
Leia nodded and held out a hand to Delenn. Delenn openly took it and they shook hands.   
  
"I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations, I am fluent in over 6 million forms of communication, and this is my counterpart, Artoo-Detoo," C-3PO said to the air once again.   
  
"Well, down to business...First of all, where are we?" Luke asked John.   
  
"We are aboard the interstellar spacestation, Babylon 5. It is currently the main base in the war against the Shadows."   
  
"The Shadows?" Luke asked.   
  
"You don't know?" John said in awe, "Well, How do I begin...?"   
  
"Hold up, I think I can figure it out faster than having you explain it." Luke walked up to John and held his hand up to John's forehead. John quickly recoiled.   
  
"You're a telepath?!" John exclaimed.   
  
"You could say that, I have the ability to read minds, if that is what you asking," Luke said to him, "I am guessing you do not like people prodding around in your mind."   
  
"No, I don't," John said to the jedi sternly.   
  
"It's alright, I will only go where you let me," Luke said in a comforting voice.   
  
"OK, if you absolutely have to," John said as he sighed and tapped his wrist link. The door opened and two guards entered the room with PPGs drawn. "Just in case you try anything funny," John said as he allowed Luke to approach him.   
  
Luke began to concentrate as images from the past 2 years flooded his mind. He saw the shadow fighters destroying civilian transports, he saw the bombing of Narn, he even saw a few glances of Babylon 4 and Sinclair. He shook his head as he opened his eyes. "We shall help you in any way we can," Luke said as he backed away, "until we can find a way home that is."   
  
"Thank you, but we cannot except your offer, I do not wish to bring in more people to die in this war," John said to him.   
  
"I know what you really think John, you are just afraid to bring us into something we aren't prepared for, and that is where you are wrong. We are ready. You saw my fleet, Wedge's fleet to be more precisely, and we are prepared for a fight, in fact we were on our way to a major battle before we were brought here. There has to be a reason for all of this, the force is very powerful, it is not always easy to understand. We will help you, whether you want it or not, if we cannot protect our galaxy, then we will protect yours."   
  
"Thank you, if you are sure...I will need to speak with your commanding officers, though, to learn the capabilities of your ships, very interesting designs by the way," John said as the guards left the room and Garibaldi walked back to the door. "Michael will lead you back to the docking bay."   
  
Luke, Mara, Leia, ad the droids followed Michael Garibaldi out the door. Sheridan looked over at Delenn and smiled. "Now that business is taken care of, what do you say? Shall we head back to our quarters?" John asked her.   
  
"No John," she said while grimacing widely, "let's just stay in here." She began to remove her coat. John ran over to the door and locked it, with full security lock active. 


	3. Finding A Long Lost Friend

**Chapter 2 – Finding A Long Lost Friend**

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Han Solo stood up from his chair and walked out of the room.  He was tired of just sitting around while Leia was off with explaining to the Council what was going on back home.  He walked down to a lift tube and stepped inside.  "Brown Sector," Han said and the lift tube descended rapidly.  He stepped out and walked down the dark corridor, brushing past aliens of every species.  All of a sudden a large brown alien stepped out of a bar on his left and crashed into him.

"Hey, watch where you're going, fur-ball!" Han yelled at the large alien.

"Wrrrarrgh!" the large creature responded.  Then it looked down at Han and extended its long paw to him.

Han looked up and he gasped as he recognized it.

"Chewie?!?!" Han exclaimed.

"Wruuu!" Chewbacca growled back to his old friend.

Han quickly stood up and wiped a tear from his eye as he gave the large Wookiee a hug.  Chewie quickly pulled Han into his arms and they stood there for a second before Han pulled away.

"We...thought you were...dead...I mean, we saw you get crushed by that moon, how did you end up here?"

Chewie responded in a few low growls.

Han nodded his head and said, "You don't know either? Hmmm, that makes two of us.  I mean, what are the chances that we'd end up here together?"

Chewie made what appeared to be a smile and Han jabbed him in the arm.

"Why didn't you come see us, you had to have heard about our arrival."

Chewbacca made a small growl in the back of his throat.

"Yeah, me too, they won't let us go hardly anywhere; they just don't understand us very well.  Come on, let's have a drink, for old times sake."

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Leia looked up and sighed as she sat down.

"So, the Yuuzhan Vong invaded your galaxy 4 years ago.  Is that right?" Delenn said as she looked over at Leia and Luke.

"That's correct.  We have lost almost everything to them.  Our capital planet, Coruscant, is now their new home world, Yuuzhan'tar.  My nephew, Leia's son, Anakin Solo is now dead, he sacrificed his life to destroy the Voxyn queen.  His older brother, Jacen, was found, barely alive on Coruscant.  My own son, Ben, was kidnapped by servants of the Vong, and we barely managed to recover him.  And just when the tide was turning, we are thrown here.  We had discovered a weakness that the Vong have against quantum weaponry, and we were on our way to recapture Coruscant," said Master Luke Skywalker as he stood up, "It was so close, and we could almost reach out and grab the victory, and rid the galaxy of the Yuuzhan Vong once and for all."

"Okay, well, now that we know your story, we are beginning to understand some your customs and belief system, which are very similar to our own," Captain Sheridan said as Luke sat back down, "Now, can you explain this force thing you mentioned earlier?"

"Of course," Luke said as he stood once again, "The Force is everywhere, it surrounds us, binds us together, it is created by living things, but it penetrates non-living things as well, for instance, your pen."

 Luke raised his hand and gestured with it, everyone looked over at Sheridan's desk.  Floating a foot or so above the surface was a small pen.  It spun in a small circle and then gently floated back to the desk.

"Psi-Corps is going to have a ball with you," John said as he looked back at the jedi, "and you say that you have many people among you with similar abilities, some as strong as yourself."

"That is correct, my wife, and sister are both very strong in the force, I sense that it even flows strongly in your own blood.  We will work on that later though.  Many of my students are aboard the main ship _Rebel Dream." Luke said to Sheridan._

"I think that for some reason, you were brought here, I don't know by what, but I have a feeling that it was not an accident, you see, we have just discovered a weakness that the shadows have, they are very weak against telepaths, and I feel that you surpass anything we've seen before.  Stronger than the Vorlon perhaps," said John.

Sheridan sat back down in his chair and said, "If the council agrees, I vote that we induct these people into our circle, and allow them to help in the fight against the shadows."

"Aye!" rose from every race present at the meeting which included the Narn, represented by G'Kar, the Minbari, represented by Delenn, and countless other races, each represented by their respective ambassadors.

"Then it is settled, we welcome the Jedi as the newest member-race of the Army of Light," said Delenn, finally speaking.

"Well, then I call this meeting adjourned!" said the captain as he rose from his chair.

Luke, Leia, Mara, and Wedge arose from their seats and walked out of the room.

"I wonder what Han is up too?" said Leia as they walked down the corridor.

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Han rose from the barstool, and stumbled around for a second, before regaining his balance.  He looked up at his long lost buddy and said, "Let's head up to the room, Leia is going to be so surprised to see you again."

Chewie grabbed Han to keep him from falling and roared lightly.  He then began to lead Han out of the bar.  They walked to the lift tube and climbed inside.  Han managed to get out, "Residential Sector Area 4A."

As they climbed out of the lift tube, they saw Luke across the corridor.  Luke looked up shook his head and then looked over at Han and Chewie.  His jaw dropped, as he saw the large Wookiee.

"Chewie!  Han, is it really him?" Luke yelled out to the Corellian.

"Yep, it's him, alive and kicking!" Han stammered out.

Luke ran up to the Wookiee and was greeted with a bear-hug.  Luke yelled out, "Mara, Leia, come out here, you'll never guess who just showed up!"

Leia and Mara ran out into the corridor and gasped at the site of Chewie.  Chewie let go of Luke and accepted the two women into his huge arms as they ran at him.

Chewie let out a few barks and growls and C-3PO and R2-D2 came slowly out of the room.

"By the maker! Chewbacca!  R2 was right, it is you, it is you!" said the golden protocol droid.  

R2 beeped a few random tweets and rolled around in a circle.  Leia stepped back from the Wookiee as she wiped the tears from her eyes.  She looked over at Han, who was smiling for the first time in a long time.  Mara saw this and smiled at Luke.

"Jacen and Jaina are going to flip when they find out," said Luke.

"Find out what?" a voice behind Luke said, soon followed by another saying, "Yeah, Uncle Luke, find out what?"

Luke stepped aside and allowed the 20 year Solo twins to see Chewbacca.  

Chewie roared in excitement as he swept the two into his huge paws and hugged them for a few seconds.  He roared again and everyone's faces dropped.

"He…he's dead, he died last year, so that we could survive," said Jacen as he looked up at Chewbacca.

Chewbacca roared at the top of his lungs and pounded his huge fists against the walls.  A few seconds later Garibaldi walked around the corner and drew his PPG.  

"Get down, this is security!" he yelled as he tapped his wrist comm, "C&C, get up to Res. sector 4A, we've got trouble!"

"Michael, it's alright, he's a friend," said Master Luke as he stepped into the line of fire.

"You sure, he looks more like a walking carpet with teeth, but if you say so," said Michael as he tapped his comm again, "C&C, cancel the cavalry; I've got the situation under control."

"Michael Garibaldi, I'd like you to meet Chewbacca, a friend from our galaxy"

"Funny, I don't remember seeing him come through customs with you," said a puzzled Garibaldi.

"That is because he didn't, he got here a few years ago," said Han, puzzling Michael even more.

"Whatever," Michael said.


	4. A Dream World

**Chapter 3 – A Dream World**

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John Sheridan looked over at Delenn as she pulled the covers up over her body.  He smiled and climbed under the covers with her.  She looked over at him and sighed.  She then shook her head and squinted her eyes.

"John, I was thinking...why did you trust Master Skywalker when he was going to scan you the other day?"

"You'll probably laugh at me, but a few weeks ago I had a weird dream, I didn't tell anyone, because it was so bizarre.  Well in the dream, there was a man, who at the time I did not recognize, but now, I realize that it was Luke.  Anyways, he was holding a Whitestar and a Shadow Mothership, one in each hand.  He looked up at me, smiled and crushed the Shadow vessel.  He then tossed the Whitestar into my hands and it turned into the Earth.  I passed it off as some crazy dream, but when Luke first appeared on the comm a few days ago, I knew that my dream had been a sign of the future.  I think that perhaps, Master Luke was sent here to save our Galaxy."

John looked up at Delenn and saw her smiling; she wrapped an arm around his body and pulled him closer.  They began to kiss and Delenn giggled as John ran his hand down her body.

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Luke Skywalker looked over at Mara as she pulled the covers up over her body.  He smiled as he used the force to pull the covers up and slid underneath them.  She looked over at him and sighed.  She then shook her head and closed her eyes in thought.  She opened her eyes and looked over at Luke with wonder in them.

"Luke, why did you trust Captain Sheridan the other day?  I noticed that you didn't try to read him through the force when he invited you onboard the station."

"Well...try not to laugh, but I had a vision a few weeks ago, it seemed like it was nothing, since it was so strange.  In the vision was a figure, one I now recognize to be John.  In the vision he was holding a Coralskipper in his right hand and an X-Wing in his left.  He made a fist with his right hand, crushing the skip.  Then he looked up, smiled and tossed the X-Wing into my hands.  When I caught it, I looked down and the ship had turned into Coruscant, the way it used to be, before the Vong.  I didn't mention it to you, since, well it seemed very strange and unreal, but once I saw his face, I knew it was a vision of the future.  I think that somehow, Captain Sheridan is going to save our galaxy from the Vong."

Luke looked up at Mara and saw her smiling, leaning on her elbow, listening contently.  She wrapped her arms around his body and pulled him closer, planting her lips on his.  She ran her hands through his semi-long silver-blonde hair, and giggled as he ran his hand down her thigh.

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Han looked over at Leia and kissed her as he got out of bed.  He walked over to the dresser and pulled on some boxers and pants.  He grabbed his tunic off the back of a chair and pulled it over his head. He looked back at Leia and walked out of the room.  He headed down the hall to the bar down a few levels.  He sat down at the bar next to a pretty female human with long brown hair, tied back in a pony tail.  She was wearing a black suit with grey trim.  He looked over at her as he ordered a drink.

"So, you work here?" Han asked the woman.

"Yes, you were one of the people that came with Luke Skywalker.  You're the Senator's husband aren't you?" the woman said.

"Han Solo..." he said.

"Susan Ivanova, nice to meet you," she replied.

"So, what do you do around here, that's a fancy uniform, I'm still trying to work out what all the insignia means."

"First of all, I'm part of the command crew.  And here, I'll show you what all the stuff means," she said.  

She pointed at the symbol on her left arm and said, "This just means that I work here on Babylon 5." 

She then pointed to the symbol on her right arm and said, "This is the symbol of the Rangers, of which I am an honorary member."

She pointed at the bars on her shoulder, "This means I'm a Commander."

She smiled at him, "Took a while to get that second bar...Sorry, I'm boring you."

"No, no, go on," Han said to her.

"So, has anyone explained the Shadow War to you?" she asked him.

"Yeah, but just a little, all I know is that, they are the bad guys, and you...we are the good guys," he said as he laughed lightly to himself.

"Well, where should I start?  Okay it all began last year, when Ambassador G'Kar told John about an ancient enemy that was gathering at Z'ha'dum.  Nobody believed him, for a while, until a ship arrived at the station.  On board was a shadow itself, one that had snuck aboard the ship in secret and was released upon its arrival to B5."

Han nodded as he took in all of this information.  He looked down at his empty glass and ordered another round.

"We found and destroyed it, but we didn't really find out about the shadows for a couple of months, when they helped the Centauri invade Narn.  Delenn came forward and told the council about them, and how they had known about them for some time.  After a little while, President Clark began setting up programs on Earth to control the people.  He, we believe, is being controlled by the Shadows.  After he set up Nightwatch, he decided that he didn't want John in charge of Babylon 5 anymore, but John didn't like that idea, so he had B5 succeed from Earth Alliance."

"Please go on," Han responded.

"We have been separated for a few months now, and we have even discovered a small weakness that the shadows have.  It seems that their ships can be immobilized by a telepath relatively easily.  That is why John is so happy to see Luke and his students."

"I would bet, those guys never cease to amaze me, I mean it isn't easy living in a house surrounded by people levitating things around.  Both of my kids, plus my wife are powerful jedi, well Leia isn't officially a jedi, but she could be..."

"So, I heard that one of your friends has been here for a while, what a coincidence, huh?" Ivanova said to him.

"Yeah, my friend Chewbacca, he's been there for me for over 25 years, and then, bang, he's gone.  We all assumed he had died, but it seems that he was somehow sent here.  Yeah, what are the chances, good thing that annoying Threepio isn't here, or he'd probably give them to me."

"The odds of Chewbacca and you meeting in this galaxy on this ship one day after our arrival are approximately 1,786,473,319 to 1," said C-3PO from behind Han.

Han looked back and rolled his eyes as he saw Leia and the golden protocol droid standing there.  "Hey Leia, couldn't sleep either?"

"Nope, I felt you get up, and after a while I gave up just laying in bed.  And since I knew you just loved the company of Threepio here, I thought I'd bring him over so you too could have fun," she said while grinning widely, "now, let's go back to the room, we will talk about this later."

"See you later, Susan, nice meeting you," Han said as Leia grabbed his ear and pulled him off the bar-stool.

"Yeah, see you later, Han," Susan said as she looked at her glass.

She watched Han walk out of the bar and sighed, "Oh, Han, why do you have to be married...I really like you...Barkeep, can I get another round...I'm gonna need it."


	5. A Little Fun

**Chapter 4 – A Little Fun**

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John Sheridan looked over at Luke as he put on the EVA suit.  He smiled and saluted as Luke climbed into the Starfury.  John climbed into his and the ship sealed itself and began pressurization.

"Alpha Leader to C&C, we are ready for departure.  Squadron, report in," said John as the Starfury turned and was shot into space.

"Alpha Two reporting in," said Michael Garibaldi.

"Alpha Four reporting in," said Lieutenant Sam Mina.

"Alpha Three reporting in," said Luke Skywalker, "and, might I add, these things handle amazingly."

Luke piloted his fighter through maneuvers formerly impossible to do, even in a TIE fighter.  He let the force flow through him and his fingers flowed over the controls with ease.  John looked over at him and was amazed at his almost natural piloting skills.  

"Form up behind me, we are moving into the firing range," said John as he turned his ship and flew off toward a small asteroid field nearby.

"Alpha Four, you are lagging behind, is there a problem Sam?" said Garibaldi as he formed up behind John.

"No sir, just a little nervous, flying with The Captain Sheridan, the only man to win against the Minbari.  I'm sure you understand how it might be intimidating," said Sam as he accelerated behind the group and matched speed.

Luke reached out with the force and calmed Sam's mind, noticing that the force was fairly strong in him.  _I will have to bring that up later he thought to himself.  He formed up behind Sam and flew with the rest of the group._

When they reached the asteroid field a small screen appeared on Luke's console.  It showed the location of 10 targets in the field.  He would have to eliminate 5 of them to pass the training exercise.  He laughed quietly, but thought again about being cocky and stopped.  He looked up and saw John fly into the field and then Michael flew in to the field a little ways away from John.

Sam flew into his quadrant of the asteroid field and almost instantly spotted a target, slamming his thumbs on the firing buttons, the target exploded, and a holographic number appeared in his upper right hand window.

Luke shook his head, "Here goes nothing," and he flew into the asteroid field.  He opened his mind to the force, letting it flow through his body, guide his hands to where they needed to go.  He saw the target through the force and depressed the fire controls, the target erupted in sparks and a number appeared on his window, 1.  He smiled and began to search for the other 9 targets.

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Luke took off his helmet and smiled at an awestruck John.  Michael shook his head and walked away with his head bowed.  Sam smiled as he walked past Sheridan and then went on his way.  John looked at Luke and gaped at his skills.

"Nobody has ever managed to get all 10 targets, let alone, have 3 minutes left to spare.  That was incredible.  Poor Michael, he only got 3 targets, plus he hit one of mine, so that took away one of his points," said Sheridan.

"Thank you John, but I wasn't alone in that fighter, I had the force with me, it helped me, guided my movements.  I can teach you to open yourself to these feelings," Luke responded.

John and Luke began to remove the EVA suits and Luke said, "That was a lot of fun, thanks for letting me try out those babies, the mobility on those things is incredible compared to our fighters, but we can pull some sweet moves in them nonetheless."

As Luke and John walked out into the corridor, John adjusted his hair and smiled at Luke, seeing him do the same.  The both stopped and laughed briefly.  John said, "Hey, Luke, I was wondering if I'd get a chance to fly one of your all's X-wings."

"Yeah, sure, no problem, I'll have Kyp bring it over, he wants to meet you anyways," said Luke.

"Thanks, I want to see what those babies are capable of."

John's com patch beeped at him.  He frowned and said, "Sheridan."

"We have an energy spike, no jump points are forming though, No..." said Ivanova.

"What is it Susan?" said John.

"John, it's the Shadows, they're here..." she said with fear in her voice.

"Understood, have all fighters launch, prepare the Whitestar for my arrival," he said, then he looked over at Luke, "You think you are ready for a real test of the Starfury?"

"I'd be honored, Captain Sheridan," Luke responded.

Luke ran back toward the fighter bays, ad John ran toward the docking bay, where the Whitestar was parked.

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"Mister Lennier, are we ready for departure?"

"Yes Captain, Commander Ivanova cleared us already."

"Let's go then."

The Whitestar rose out of the docking bay and flew forward and out the exit.  As it hit open space John saw how big this fleet was, and he gasped.  There were 2 motherships and at least 100 fighters.

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Luke climbed into the Starfury and tapped a button on the screen as he looked over and saw Sam's shining face.  Sam had never seen real combat before; he had been off station when B5 separated from Earth Alliance, and so, he wasn't here for the ensuing battle.  They both shot off into space and pulled up toward the shadow vessels.  Luke gasped as he was hit with a wall of dark side energy.  The ships in front of him were emitting pure darkness.  They were the scariest looking things he had seen in his life.  He powered up the guns and let the force flow through him.  He looked over at the star destroyer appropriately named _Shining Light and saw Rouge Squadron flying out of its fighter berths.  _

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"Okay, Rouges, this will be our first fight with these things, so look out for anything weird," said General Wedge Antilles from the Command Station on the _Shining Light._

"Thank you General, okay people, you heard him," said Gavin Darklighter.

The X-wings poured out of the fighter bays and flew off into space.  Jaina looked up at the mothership and was hit by a wall of dark side energy.  She looked over to her left and saw Kyp had the same expression on his face.  On her right, was the always straight faced Jagged Fel.  She giggled at his always serious nature and then refocused on the ensuing battle.  She pulled back on his control stick and flew straight at one of the fighters, letting the force guide her and fired her lasers at it.  The lasers harmlessly were deflected off the armor.  She dropped her jaw and slammed her hands on the comm.  

"Our lasers don't work against these things, switching to proton torpedoes..."

She pressed a button on her control panel and the targeting computer tried to get a lock on the vessel...with no luck.  She slammed her fists against the window, and decided to try to target it with the force.  She noticed the shadow fighter contract and then expand again as a large ball of energy flew straight at her ship, she pulled back on the control stick and narrowly dodged the shot.  She realigned herself and fired a torpedo at the ship.  It flew straight into the cannon and exploded.  She smiled and pulled away form the explosion and saw another target.  She grabbed it with the force, and fired a torpedo at it.  The first missed, but the fighter exploded, and Jag's face stared across space at hers.

**************************

"Okay, Mister Lennier, target the lead ship, I want it out of my sky."

"Yes Captain...Ak-tak Tibo-nal," Lennier said to the crew.

The ship began firing at the lead shadow vessel.  It came around, splitting an X-Wing in half with its energy stream as it came about.  All of a sudden it stopped.  John yelled out, "Fire!"

The shadow mothership suddenly erupted in a cloud of screaming metal and debris.  John looked out the view port and saw Luke's Starfury sitting there in front of the Whitestar.  Luke was holding his hand out toward where the ship used to be.  

John smiled and said, "Luke, nice job, you think you can do that again?"

"No problem Captain, I'll get right on it, I need to get closer to it though, can you get me there?" Luke replied through the comm.

"Mister Lennier, clear Luke a path, get him as close to that ship as possible, and have the guns ready to take her out as soon as it's immobilized.

**************************

Luke walked out of the fighter bays, and everyone cheered for him.  He had saved Babylon 5.  The crowd split as Mara walked up to him and gave him a big kiss.  Luke was a hero again.  It had been 29 years since he had really done anything that monumental in space.  Luke took her hand and together they walked toward their cabin.  John ran up behind them and tapped Luke on the shoulder.

"Great job out there, Luke, you are going to be a very nice addition to Babylon 5.  How would you like to fly a Whitestar sometime, I'm sure I can work it out so you can get some experience on the bridge," said Captain Sheridan

"Thank you, but no thanks; I'm a snub fighter pilot, not a commander."

Luke looked back at Mara and they continued their journey to their quarters.

**************************

Jaina looked over at Jag as they climbed out of their X-wings.  She gave him a big smile as she pulled off her helmet.  She walked over and gave him a hug, and then she planted a huge kiss on his lips.  They ended the kiss when Kyp coughed, grabbing their attention.  He shook his head and walked off.  Jaina took Jag's hand as they walked back to her room, to continue what they had started before the battle.  Jaina pulled off her flight suit and smiled as she climbed into bed.  Jag walked out of the fresher, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.  He climbed into the bed next to her and she giggled as he kissed her on the neck.


	6. Investigation

**Chapter 5 – Investigation**

****************************************************************************

"Mister Skywalker," said a man with a weird hairdo.

"Hello..." Luke responded, not remembering the Centauri's name.

"Londo Mollari," he replied.

"Ah yes, the Centauri Ambassador, I've heard a lot of bad things about you," Luke said as he began to walk off.

"Mister Skywalker, please...Let me buy you a drink; we need to talk," Londo said as he scurried around in front of Luke.

"We can talk, but I don't drink."

"Yes, of course."

Londo lead Luke to the bar that he often occupied.  Londo sat down and ordered his usual, Luke sat next to him.

"What is it, Ambassador?"

"I heard about your little stunt yesterday.  Very impressive...very impressive indeed.  I would like to know how you did it."

"The force, it told me to use a mind trick on the ship, it worked very easily, I managed to convince the ship to stop.  I just have to get fairly close in order to do it."

"Oh really, well congratulations on your first victory against the shadows, I bid you farewell."

Londo threw back his head and swallowed the last of his drink, placing the glass on the bar, and handing the waitress a small coin.  Luke looked back at the Centauri and laughed as he stood up.  He walked back to his quarters in green-4.  He walked into the room to see that his wife was not alone. A beautiful young woman with ebony curls that spilled over onto the floor sat talking to Mara, both of them holding their infant sons on their laps.

"Linauri, how are you doing?" Luke asked the woman.

"Just fine, Elendur here is growing up so fast," she said as she turned and saw her master's face.

"Thank you for taking care of Ben while Mara and I were meeting with Captain Sheridan."

"No problem, it was fun actually, the little guy is fun to be with," she said in response, "You want to hold Ele?"

"Yes, please," Luke said as Linauri extended her son to him.  Luke took the week old baby into his arms and rocked it back in forth in his arms.  Mara looked up and then noticed that Ben wanted to be held now.  

"Luke, dear, I think Ben is jealous," Mara said with a giggle.

Luke handed Elendur back to Linauri and took Ben from Mara's extended arms.  Mara smiled as Ben began cooing in Luke's arms.  Luke handed Ben back to Mara.

"I've got a meeting with the captain in a few minutes; I just came by to tell you."

"It's okay Lukie-ookie, Ivanova told us about it earlier, she messaged you on BabCom and I answered," Mara told her husband, "Now go, so we can get back to our girl talk."

"It was nice talking to you Master Luke, or should I say lukie-ookie" said Linauri with a giggle.

"You too, Lin, well gotta run, see you two girls later," he responded, turning away blushing.

The girls saw him blushing and began to giggle and laugh.  Luke walked fast out into the corridor and down towards Captain Sheridan's office.  Lin looks over at Mara and giggles, pointing a finger at her saying, "Lukie-ookie....?"

Mara begins to blush and then force pushes Lin into the side of the couch making both women laugh.

************************************************************************

Londo walked through the Zocalo, looking at the various items people were selling.  He stopped at a flower shop and saw some starlaces.  He quickly scowled and turned away.

"Ambassador Mollari," said a voice behind the Centauri.

"What do you want, Mister Morden?" he replied quickly.

"I noticed you had a talk with that Jedi, I would like to know what you talked about.  My associates would also like to know how he managed to completely immobilize a mothership so easily," Morden replied with anger in his voice.

"He went on about something called the force; I don't know what he was talking about; Now leave me be, Mister Morden."

"Thank you Ambassador; my associates would like you to find out more if you can."

Morden turned and walked away from Londo.  Vir Cotto walked past him and gritted his teeth at the foul creature.

"Londo, Londo!"

"Yes, Yes, what is it Vir?"

"Lord Refa wishes to speak to you immediately."

"Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes."

Vir ran off to his room to tell Lord Refa Londo was on his way.  Londo looked up and saw Garibaldi standing on the catwalk looking around.  He waved and yelled out, "Mister Garibaldi, my good friend!"

Garibaldi walked down the stairs and smiled as Londo walked up to him, "What is it this time Londo?  What do you need, I don't have any money on me right now."

"This isn't about money.  I want to know what this force thing Skywalker talks about is."

"I honestly don't know what to tell you, maybe you should check up on that.  I'm on duty, but maybe I'll see you at the bar later."

"Yes, at the bar, good day Mister Garibaldi."

Londo turned around and left for his quarters, where Vir was waiting with the link with Refa.

************************************************************************

Ambassador Kosh watched Luke as he walked into Sheridan's office.  Luke stopped all of a sudden, feeling a mental probe.  He looked over and saw Kosh turning the corner.  As soon as he was out of sight, the probe ended.  Luke ran after him, but when he got to the corner, Kosh was nowhere to be seen.  He tried to scan for him using the force, but he couldn't find him.  He turned back toward the office and pressed the pager on the door.

"Open," said Sheridan from inside, "Ah, Luke, glad you could make it."

"You said you wanted to see me?" Luke asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if we could go try those X-wings out.  I'd like to see how they compare to a Starfury."

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

"Good...because I've already cleared us a transport to your ship."

"Let's go."

The two men walked out of the office and down to the private launch bay.  John opened the door using his clearance code and motioned for Luke to enter.  Luke walked into the ship and John followed.  John sat down in the captain's chair and told the Minbari crew to fly them over to the lead star destroyer.  Luke pulled a comlink out of his pocket and requested clearance for the Whitestar into docking bay 27.

************************************************************************

"You'll notice that the X-wings have their own life support systems.  The helmet is just for protection."

John pushed forward on the acceleration lever and zoomed past Luke.

"Whoa, these things are fast."

"Heh, yeah, they can get 1700 g's easily."

"Wow, this thing will smoke anything we can throw at it."

John flew around in the x-wing for a while, and then came up next to Luke's.  "Wanna race?" he asked the jedi.

"Sure...why not?"

Luke looked out into space, and spotted an asteroid.

"First one to that asteroid buys dinner."

"You're on."

Luke looked over at John as they set the departure clocks for 10 seconds.  The timer went off and Luke slammed forward on the acceleration bar.  He looked over and saw John was somewhat ahead of him.  He checked the computer; John's reaction time was incredible...0.06 seconds.  He sighed as he knew he would never catch up.  He began to mentally count his money.  Mara was going to beat him for losing, after laughing for a few minutes, that is.

"How did you start so fast, John?"

"I used to drag race back on Earth.  Oh, I thought I had told you," John said with a laugh, "Oh, and thanks for picking up dinner."

"Yeah...No problem," said Luke with confusion in his mind.


	7. Pointless Questions

**Chapter 6 – Pointless Questions**

************************************************************************

"I'm not sure I understand the question, uh...Mister..." said Kyp Durron as he turned around.

"Morden," the other man responded.

"Morden, yes," Kyp replied, "Who informed you on where I was?"

"Master Kalendros," Morden responded with a smile on his face.

"And does he know what this chat is about?" Kyp asked the man.

"No, but, in order to see someone of your importance; I had to get a recommendation, he provided it," Morden said as he sat down, "You still haven't answered my question, Master Jedi...What do you want?"

"Well, what do you mean, what do I want?"

"What do you want?" Morden asked again.

"What do I want for my birthday?  What do I want to do tomorrow?  What do I...?"

"What do you want?"

"This is pointless, what I want is for you to go away and leave me be."

Morden stood up and said, "As you say."

"Wait...what do I want?  The Yuuzhan Vong destroyed my world.  I want justice."

"But, what do you want?"

"To break all the bones in their bodies, and grind their skulls into the ground."

"What do you want?"

"To devastate their planets, poison their water, to completely, and utterly destroy them."

"And then what?"

Kyp looked up with question on his face, "I don't know, as long as Coruscant's safety is guaranteed, I don't know that it matters."

"I see, well, thank you very much for you time Master Jedi...Good day," Morden said as he walked out of the room.

Kyp smiled as he sat back down on his bed.  "Good day, Mister Morden."

************************************************************************

A young woman and her husband walked out of bay 13.  She looked up and saw Captain Sheridan, and smiled.

"Ah, Princess Amanda, this must be your husband, Icky," John said to her.

"Yep, that's him alright," she replied

"How was your flight?" John asked the young princess.

"Long and boring...Icky here was a spoilsport, never let me have any fun," she said as she stuck out her tongue at her husband, who was rolling his eyes.

"Heh, yeah, so...What brings you to Babylon 5?"

"My father, King Roland, told me I needed to take a long vacation, and since B5 is the last place he wants me to be, I chose here, logically," she said with a huge smile on her face.

"Your room has been prepared; I'll have your bags taken there immediately."

A young man walked up and smiled at Amanda.  She smiled back.

"Amanda, I'd like you to meet Wes Janson, he just got here a week ago."

"Wes Janson, this is Princess Amanda, from Io.  Her father owns that moon of Jupiter, he's a little eccentric, and his daughters certainly get it from him."

Amanda held out her hand and Wes graciously took it and kissed the back of it.  Amanda giggled as Icky growled in the back of his throat, eyeing Wes up and down.  Wes looked into her eyes and she looked back into his, shaking her head.  Icky looked over confused and frowned at her.

"Come on Icky, we were just having a bit of fun.  Ah, you are such a spoilsport.  Hmph!"

Icky took Wes aside and said, "If you lay one hand on her, I will kick your ass so hard the Vorlons will wonder how you got into their space without a ship.  Got it?"

"Yeah...I got it, little man."

Wes winked at Amanda as he walked off.  She winked back without Icky seeing.  She then turned back and followed John to their quarters.

*****************************

Wes looked over at Amanda and laughed.

"We shouldn't be doing this," he said.

"Yeah, I know, but it's so much fun," she replied.

"I don't know how you guys convinced me to join you, but I'm glad you did, this is a lot of fun," Linauri said, "Isi is going to kill me if he finds out what we are doing though."

"I'm almost done over here, what about you Amanda?"

"Yes, yes, I'm done!"

Amanda leaned her head back and stared up, she then let out a long sigh.

"Lin?"

"You know it!"

"Me too!"

The three stood up and washed their hands.  They looked up and laughed as they saw the squadron of bright pink Starfuries.  They turned around and began to walk to the exit.  The door suddenly opened and Garibaldi, Isildur, Wedge, and Icky were standing in the doorway.  Amanda gulped and smiled at Icky.

"Hey Icky-poo," she said.

"Alright, which one of you is the brainiac behind this little operation of yours?" Garibaldi asked the trio.

Amanda pointed at Wes, but Wes and Lin both pointed at Amanda.

"I should have known it was you Mandy, after your last visit, we are still trying to get the red smiley faces off the walls in Brown-17."

"That was you?" Wes asked Amanda with a laugh.

She nodded her head and giggled as Garibaldi took them away.

************************************************************************

Kyp picked up the holocron Master Skywalker had leant him.  He stood up and walked out the door.  He began to walk down the corridor toward Luke's quarters.  All of a sudden a large pipe hit the back of his head, and he fell to the floor.  He looked up before he passed out and saw two men take the holocron.  They drug his body toward the docking bays.  They pushed him back behind a tower of cartons and ran off toward their ship.

"Come back here, with tha..." Kyp said as he passed out.

The thieves walked onto their ship and flew off into space.  They opened the jump gate and flew off.  A few hours later, they jumped out of hyperspace.  

Suddenly the alarms were going off.  Two shadow motherships came out of hyperspace and instantly fired upon the transport.  The ship erupted in a ball of fire and metal.

*************************

Kyp woke up as an arm shook him.  His eyes slowly opened.  He recognized the man in front of him.

"Master Durron, you were hit in the head.  There is no permanent damage, but you might want to head to MedLab to have it looked at closer," the man said

"Thank you Mister Morden, but I am in some real trouble," Kyp replied as he grabbed the back of his head.

"Oh, and my associates wanted you to have this, consider it a gift, from friends you didn't know you have."

Morden held out a small box.  Kyp took the box and opened it.  Inside was the holocron.  Kyp looked up, only to find Morden was gone.

"Thank you, how can I contact you?"

A voice appeared in his head saying, "I will contact you."


	8. Understanding, Sort Of

**Chapter 7 – Understanding...Sort Of**

****************************************************************************

Lyta Alexander flew to the ground as the white vapor in the air began to dissipate.  Ambassador Kosh replaced the head-piece on his environment suit and it sealed with a hiss.  She slowly stood up and grabbed her arm.  The fall must have knocked it out of the socket, because she was in extreme pain.  

"Why are you so mean?  The old Kosh would never hurt me," she said to the large alien.

"We are all Kosh.  Leave, now," Kosh answered, enigmatic as always.

"What are you planning?  I have a right to know, I have earned some respect," she said sternly.

Kosh's red "eye" suddenly opened wide and he said, "Respect from whom?  You want to know?  Then you will know."

Lyta screamed as information was suddenly shot into her brain.  She saw a million images at once.  Luke was there, he was on the bridge of a ship.  Leia and Mara were standing next to him.  There was a flash.  A jump-point opened and they gasped as they were shot into real-space.  Behind the ships, however, was something nobody had noticed.  It was a Vorlon cruiser.  What was a Vorlon cruiser doing with a New Republic fleet?  It turned around and she fell to the ground.  She stood up realizing what must have happened.

"You brought them here...Why?" she asked him.

"Do not ask questions you can't understand..." he replied

"Can't understand?" she said with confusion in her voice.

"Leave, go sleep," he commanded her.

She stood up once again and grabbed her arm as she walked out of the room.  Dr. Franklin saw her lean up against the wall and hit his link.

"Franklin to MedLab; send a team down to Brown-19.  We have a female human down, possible broken arm," he yelled into his link, "Lyta, what happened in there?"

"Nothing, I fell down, I'm just a little tired."

He picked her chin up and saw blood running down her cheek from her right eye.

"You're bleeding.  You need help," he said as he picked her up and placed her on the gurney that came around the corner.  They rolled her as fast as they could back to MedLab and injected her with painkillers.  She looked up and grabbed Franklin's hand as she passed out.  A split second before falling unconscious a brief telepathic link was created.  He saw a few of the images, but mainly he noticed the Vorlon cruiser.  She collapsed and he stopped where he was, letting the other staff to take her to MedLab.  He suddenly hit his link.

"Franklin to C&C.  John, I have some important news you need to hear in your office...Have Luke come too.  This concerns him.  I'm on my way now."

"See you in a few minutes Stephen," John replied.

************************************************

Luke looked up as Dr. Stephen Franklin walked into the room.  He nodded at the Jedi and Sheridan.

"I have reason to believe that the Vorlons brought you and your fleet here, Luke.  Our local telepath Lyta Alexander is very close to Ambassador Kosh.  I found her seriously injured and just before she passed out I received a telepathic message, including an image of A Vorlon Cruiser behind your fleet.  Nobody noticed it, because they were all distracted by your ships in the first place.  I wish I could show you, so you can see for yourself."

"You can, Stephen, just think hard about the image, that way I don't have to probe for it," Luke said as he held his hand up toward the doctor.  He closed his eyes and suddenly opened them, "Yes, I see it now.  Why would the Vorlons want me and my friends here?"

"It could have to deal with your very powerful telepathic abilities," John said as he looked up from his desk.

"You are probably right, I need to see Ambassador Kosh, now..." Luke said as he walked out the door.

"I think I'll join you, Luke," John said to him as he followed him out the door.

"Yeah, me too, I want to know what happened to Lyta, she was very badly hurt, and she had just come out of his quarters," Dr. Franklin said as he ran up behind the two men.

************************************************************************

Chewbacca sat down in his old chair on the Millennium Falcon.  It had been 4 years since he had been separated from his friend Han, to whom he owed a life debt.  Han had saved him from enslavement to the Empire.  Together they became outlaws and began smuggling for Jabba the Hutt and anybody else willing to pay them.  He tightened the crash webbing around his large body and smiled over at Han as they flew out into space.

"Just like the good old days," Han said.

"Wrarrrrgh!" Chewie roared back.

"Yeah, I know, I wish you were there when we fought the Vong over Coruscant too.  We could have used you a lot.  Leia was starting to get used to your seat too."

"Rawwwrghgerr!"

"Ambassador Kosh, yeah, he seems nice enough, why?"

"Ruurrgh!"

"He recognized you when you arrived?  How could he have known you?"

Chewie shrugged his shoulders and hit a switch next to his seat with a flick of a claw.  Music began playing in the cabin.

"Leia still doesn't know about the system we put in here...On New Republic credits no doubt."

Han and Chewie began to nod their heads to the heavy beats of the Corellian band, Nazgul.  They flew around the space station a few times, just checking it out.  Then they decided to fly around the solar system.  After a few minutes they reached the edge of the system and Chewie noticed a something weird on an asteroid floating by.  He showed it to Han.  Han saw it and decided to fly in closer to see what it was.  

"What the heck is that thing?"

In front of them was a large black spider looking thing half-buried in the asteroid.  Han grabbed the comm and said, "Han Solo to Wedge Antilles, Wedge come in."

"Wedge here," the aged commander said.

"Um...Wedge, what did you say the shadow ships looked like?"

"Big black spiders from Hell, why?"

"Um...I think me and Chewie found one.  You might want to tell the Captain about this, we are returning to Babylon 5."

"Thanks Han, I'll tell him."

Chewie growled as they turned back to the space station, full speed.  A squadron of Starfuries was flying out toward them.

"Please lead us to this asteroid," a voice said over the comm.

"Of course," Han said as they once again turned the ship around.  Han flew off full speed but noticed the starfighters way behind him.  He laughed and remembered that they didn't even come close to matching the acceleration of the Falcon.

After a few minutes they finally arrived at the asteroid.  The shadow ship was gone, and there was a large hole in the asteroid.

"It's a false alarm Captain, there's nothing here."

************************************************************************

"Oh Han, that was amazing...Ever since we got Chewie back, I've gotten the old you back," Leia said as she rolled over and kissed him on the cheek.

Sweat dripping from Han's face he looked over and kissed her back.

"Yeah I know," he replied.

"If it means anything, I believe you."

"Huh?  Oh the whole shadow ship thing, how'd you know?"

"I am a jedi after all, well sort of," she said with a laugh.

"How could I forget, you can see things before they happen too, right?" he asked her, "Well, did you see this coming?" He said as he rolled on top of her and kissed her forehead.  Leia pulled the covers up using the force and giggled at his newly found youthful spirit.


	9. Revelations

**Chapter 8 – Revelations**

************************************************************************

The warm water cascaded down to the floor.  She rinsed the last few suds of soap from her body.  Reaching down and turning the water off, she stepped out of the shower.  Drying her long brown hair she stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself.  Sliding the towel down her body, she wiped up the last bits of water and let the towel drop to the floor.  She stepped out into the cool air of her quarters, she sighed and a shiver ran through her body.  She smiled and bent over to pull on her uniform, which was lying on the bottom drawer of her dresser.  

Pulling the pants up and fastening the clasp on the tunic, she picked up her name badge and stuck it over her right breast.  She didn't really like her name, always reminding her of her brother Ganya.  But she was also proud to bear her name, and represent the last of her family.  After her father, Andrei, died a few years ago, she tried avoiding her emotions, thinking that it could be considered a weakness.  She had recently revealed the fact that she was a low level telepath, when a traitor was thought to be among the command crew.  She got her abilities from her mother, Sofie.  After she took her life her father became distant, and she thought it was something she had done.  She looked down at the name pin in the mirror.

Picking up her silver and gold command bar, she affixed it to her tunic, above her left breast.  She adjusted her hair, pulling it up into a tight ponytail.  She applied a light layer of lip stick and turned and exited the room.  She walked onto the command deck and stood at the command post, hands behind her back, watching out the view port.  Her link suddenly beeps at her.

"Ivanova..."

"Susan, this is John, get to the council room, we are having a meeting."

************************************************************************

A man with long black hair and a short beard walked into the room.  He looked around at all the members of the war council and clapped his hands.

"Marcus, glad you could finally make it," John said to the man.

"Thank you John," he replied, "so, where is this new telepath I've heard so much about?"

Luke stands up and nods to the ranger.

"Marcus, I'd like you to meet Luke Skywalker," John said, "Luke, this is Marcus Cole, our favorite ranger."

"Why thank you John, it is nice to meet you Luke."

"I love the accent, you from Coruscant?" Luke asked him.

"No, it's British," Marcus replied with a laugh.

"Heh, so...could you tell me a little more about the rangers?" Luke asked Marcus.

"It was founded 1000 years ago by the Minbari Valen, who was a Minbari, not born of Minbar.  He formed the rangers after the war with the shadows, to protect the Minbari and prepare for this war, but we pushed aside and were mostly forgotten.  After the Earth-Minbari war, to strengthen ties between our two races the rangers began allowing humans in.  We are guardians of peace.  We do not start fights, but we do not, and I mean never, walk away from a fight once it has begun.  We live for the One. We die for the one. We walk in the dark places that no one else will enter. We stand on the bridge, and none may pass.  Our weapon, the Denn'Bok, or fighting pike, is a close combat weapon," he says as he pulls his pike out and it extends to its 6 foot length, "rather than a ranged one.  It is more honorable, and forces us to confront our opponents, rather than kill from afar, and it's really a lot of fun too."

"That sounds very similar to the Jedi order.  We were founded many thousands of years ago, but the order we have today was started 18 years ago, when I founded a new Jedi Academy.  We are the new Jedi order.  We are guardians of peace as well.  We do not, however, believe that fights must be ended then and there.  The force is our guide.  The creed of the old jedi order was: There is no Emotion...There is Peace.  There is no Ignorance...There is Knowledge.  There is no Passion...There is Serenity.  There is no Death...There is the Force.  I personally believe, that, without emotion, what is peace?  So I do not strictly forbid emotion in my order, in fact I promote it as much as I can.  Our main defensive item is what we call a lightsaber, and it too is close ranged.  I choose not to call it a weapon, because that would imply it is used to hurt or kill, when it is actually used only for the defense of justice and good," Luke said while walking around the room.

"We have more in common than I had thought," Marcus replied.

"Yes, you are quite correct," Luke agreed.

*How long have you loved the Commander?* Luke asked Marcus through the force.

*It feels like forever, but it has only been a few months, since I first saw her* Marcus thought back.

*Does she know?*

*No, I could never tell her, why you know something?*

*I try not to mingle in other people affairs, but you two are putting out very strong emotions towards each other...*

*Really, she feels the same way?*

*She is confused, but she does have feelings for you, she's unconsciously blocking out the thoughts, only she can tell you if it's love however...*

*What should I do?*

*Tell her, simple as that, try to be honest as possible*

"Hey Susan, can I talk with you after the meeting, I have some important news you need to hear," Marcus said to her, smiling at Luke.

Luke nodded as Susan replied, "Yeah, Okay, I have a break in an hour, see you at the Zocalo?"

"No, I was thinking more private, which is why I can't say it here."

"Okay, my quarters, same time?"

"That will be perfect!"

Marcus looked over at Luke and thought *Thank you...*

*May the force be with you.*

"Okay, I now that introductions have been made, I have an announcement I have to make," John said, waiting for Susan and Marcus to finish.

All eyes shifted to the Captain.  John wraps his arm around Delenn.

"I have recently received some information regarding our friends here," John says motioning toward Luke and Leia, "It seems that the Vorlons had something to do with their arrival here, and that it wasn't a coincidence they arrived here."

Chatter was all over the room, every member of the council was trying to figure out why the Vorlons would do such a thing.

"Order! Silence!"

The room was suddenly quiet.

"Thank you.  While Ambassador Kosh has said nothing, we have a reliable source as our information, Lyta Alexander.  She has not said much, due to injuries sustained during what appears to be a telepathic attack, but what she told Doctor Franklin combined with Kosh's refusal to speak, proves in my mind that this is true."

Stephen nods his head, and Luke does the same.  

"That is all people; you may go back to work."

Susan walked out of the room and went back to her post, wondering what Marcus had to tell her in private.  She hoped it was what she thought it might be, but then pushed that idea out of her mind as it was probably not true.

Marcus sat there for a few minutes, and then looked up and saw Luke.

"I'd like to thank you, this will make things much easier now," Marcus told the middle-aged man.

"Like I said before, I thought you needed to know, because it might kill you if you don't tell her," Luke said as he walked out the door.

"May the force be with you," Marcus said with a smile.

"And with you as well."

************************************************************************

The door to Marcus's room slid closed and Marcus paced across the room.  He wiped the sweat off his palms and walked out of the room.  He needed something to ease the tension, and be thoughtful at the same time.  Then he remembered the syntharoses Susan had given him a few months ago.  He quickly ran down to the Zocalo and found a flower salesman.  Handing him some money, he grabs a dozen roses from the stand.  He fixes his hair and checks his breath.  Satisfied, he checks the clock, 3 minutes until he is supposed to arrive at Susan's quarters.  He lays the roses down and dusts his pants off.  Looking up he sees her walking into her room, not noticing him.  He stands up, grabbing the roses and steps up to the door.  Checking the clock again, he smiles and presses the buzzer.

"Come in," Susan says to the computer.

The door slides open and Marcus gulps and walks into the room.  He sees Susan standing at her desk, sorting through some files.  He walks up behind her and holds out the roses.  He then coughs, trying to get her attention, and does so.  She looks down at the roses and then up at him, a tear in her eye.

"Susan, there's something I've been meaning to tell you..."


	10. A Few Surprises

**Chapter 9 – A Few Surprises**

***************************************************************************

Hurrying he wandered down the corridor and stepped into the elevator.  Telling the computer to take him to Green Sector, the elevator lurched and then began its short journey from Brown sector to Green.  The doors opened in front of him and he stepped out into a crowd of people.  He glanced to the left and sees a Narn leaning against the wall, staring at him, to his right, another Narn, this one bent over fixing the strap on his boot, staring up at him.  He nervously snaked his way through the crowd of people and into the safety of his own room.  He ordered the door locked and he sighed in relief.  He walked over to the mini-bar and poured himself a drink.  Looking up into the mirror, he rose his glass and threw his head back drinking the elixir, when he brought his head back down; he saw something move in the shadows.  

"Who's there?" he said with obvious fear in his voice, "What do you...AHHHHH!!!!"

The door suddenly opened and then shut again.  The man was lying on the floor dead, with a large circular hole in his chest.  Blood gently seeps out and stains the carpet as it begins to dry in place.  

*********************************

A few hours later, there is a large crowd surrounding the fallen man.  Dr. Stephen Franklin weaves through the crowd and bends down toward the body.  He wipes some blood off the name badge on his right breast...Ruel.  It was one of the communications officers, Ronald Ruel.  Why would anybody want this man dead, and by the looks of the entry wound, the doctor decides it is a Narn ceremonial dagger.  Tests in MedLab will probably prove it for him.  The only questions floating in his mind, were Why?  Why kill a communications officer?  What is to be gained from this?  This was now Garibaldi's field, all he could do was inform the captain, and then have the body prepared for the mortician.  Shaking his head he stands up and watches the work crew load the bloody body onto a gurney and roll him off towards MedLab.  *It's going to be a long night* Stephen thought as he walked out of the room and followed the gurney to MedLab.

*********************************

"Anomaly found," says the computer in its monotone female voice.

He shakes his head and walks over to the body; he takes a tissue sample from the incision point and pulls it up under the microscope.  Zooming in, he sees a black material, unlike anything he had ever seen before.  Zooming in further, he sees what appear to be snake scales, very small snake scales.  He had no clue what this was, but he knew it wasn't of Narn design.  He tapped the small metal link on the back of his wrist.

"Franklin to C&C"

"This is Garibaldi, go ahead Stephen."

"Michael, it wasn't the Narn who killed Ensign Ruel, I don't even know what it was that killed him yet, but it wasn't Narn, that I am certain of."

"Okay, thank you Stephen, but it seems we have a few witnesses who saw 3 Narns leaving the area a little while around 1900."

"That's about when I estimate time of death.  Either the Narns are using something new we've never seen before, or someone is trying to make it look like the Narns did this."

*********************************

"I find this absolutely preposterous!" screamed an angry Narn.

"Calm down, we aren't accusing your people of anything, I just wanted to let you know that we have 3 witnesses who saw Narns leaving the area at the time of the murder," Captain Sheridan said, in a soothing voice.

"Calm down?  You are telling me that 3 of my people, with a weapon you don't know anything about, killed in cold blood, one of your communications officers, an Ensign at that, and you expect me to calm down?" the Narn made a fist and gritted his fangs.

"Listen G'Kar, I hate this as much as you do, and I believe you when you say your people didn't do it, but there are witnesses, 4 of 'em, and unless you have alibis for every one of your people, you better hope you can get a good lawyer," said Chief of Security Garibaldi.

G'Kar threw his hands up in the air and stomped out of the room.  John looked up at the security officer and shook his head.  Michael just sighed and stood up and thought, *I have a lot of work ahead of me, why put it off any more.  Hey maybe they were wearing holosuits, it wouldn't be the first time a similar operation had been pulled, but that was 3 years ago, and Sinclair was now 1000 years into the past.  But 3 holosuits, good ones at that, to kill an ensign, it just didn't add up.*  

"I'm gonna check Ronald's duty log, and see what he was doing just before he went home," Michael said.

"Good idea, maybe give us an idea on where to start," replied John, who was going through some files Luke had given him about the New Republic fleet.

*********************************

"Nothing abnormal at all, damn it," Garibaldi exclaimed, "He hasn't done anything weird in the past 3 days."

*********************************

Linauri walked past the captain and snickered.  He looked over and glared, unable to do anything.  Garibaldi walked out and glared at Lin.  She started walking faster.  Suddenly Princess Amanda and Wes Janson ran toward her, with G'Kar, Wedge Antilles, and Londo Mollari rounding them together.  The three huddled together, surrounded by their latest victims.  

Wedge wiped some white stuff off his face and smeared it across Amanda's.  Garibaldi took a pacifier out of his pocket and shoved it into Linauri's mouth.  Sheridan wiped a bit of lipstick off his lips and pulled a stick out of his pocket, and began applying it to Wes's face.  Garibaldi began wrapping a diaper around Lin's legs, while Sheridan pulled a dress over Wes's head.  Amanda now had a huge rainbow afro and a big red ball on her nose.  G'Kar and Londo just stood there making sure the three didn't try to run off.

A few minutes later, Linauri was dressed up as a very big baby, Wes was a pretty girl, and Amanda was dressed like Bozo the clown.  They were then tied up and hoisted up in a large cage.  On top of the cage was a weird looking lizard that had fur.  They were in the center of the entrance section, where everyone who came aboard would see them.  Sheridan, Garibaldi, Wedge, G'Kar, and Londo wiped their hands off and went on their own ways.

"Let us down!" Linauri cried out, "Isi, you let me out of here, right not, or, or, or you'll be sleeping on the couch for weeks!"

Isildur, Prince Icky, and Tycho walked out and just shook their heads, then walked off.

"Icky, please let me out!" Amanda yelled to her young husband.

"Tycho...come on, let us out of here, just press that button on the wall, somebody, anybody?"

Everyone in the section just looked up and laughed at the trio.  It seems that one prank deserves another, eye for an eye.  But they still hadn't been got back at for the Starfury prank, they gulped and just sat down, tired from all their screaming.

Suddenly the BabCom screen flashed and a vid' of the 5 people who had just captured and humiliated them came up.  Captain Sheridan was wearing a pink frilly dress and lipstick, and tons of rouge; the words "Captain Sheridan" floated above his head.  Next to him was Garibaldi, dressed up as a baby, wearing only a diaper and a pacifier.  Next was Wedge Antilles, wearing the full clown ensemble: rainbow wig, big red nose, huge shoes, excessively baggy pants with suspenders, white face paint, and a huge red smile painted on over his lips.  Then G'Kar and Londo were next to him, in a very erotic position.  All 5 of the men were unconscious and did not move a muscle.  The whole station suddenly erupted with laughter and Linauri, Amanda, and Wes sighed, content that their humiliation had not been fruitless.  The words "Brought to you by the letters DP" flashed along the bottom of the screen and then BabCom shut off momentarily.  It soon began its original programming and people snickered as they went about their lives again.

*********************************

Meanwhile, two men, both with short beards, walked through the corridor toward the Mutai arena.  The older looking man was holding in his hand two chits that would get them in for the title match.  The younger man looked eager to see the first human Mutai participant, Walker Smith, and the current champion, Gyor.  They had tied 2 years ago, and Walker had managed to work his way back up the boxing circuit, but he wanted to come back for the rematch, and try to win the title again.  Walking into the arena, they find the match just about to start.

"Their fight 2 years ago was heard all across the galaxy, this will not be a fight easily forgotten," says the older man.

"Sounds exciting, from what you tell me, they fight until one or the other is dead, very aggressive, but very honorable at the same time, just like the Yuuzhan Vong."

"Into the sands of blood comes Walker Smith of Earth, the bravest of his race," the Muta-do said as he walked into the ring.  A large black human walked into the ring, in the corner where he entered stood Michael Garibaldi and an alien.  Walker was wearing a blue fighting outfit, with a large patch, symbolizing Earth on his left breast flap.

"Now comes the Shao-rin, master of the Mutai, bravest of the brave, Gyor," the Muta-do said as a large alien wearing a similar outfit walked into the ring from the opposite corner.

"Fight with respect, and courage," the Muta-do said and then he raised his scepter and said as he backed into his throne-like seat, "The Mutai begins!"

The two men raised their palms to face each other, and then turned them 90 degrees forming a chain with their fingers. And then suddenly they were in a fighting stance.  Jacen watched in awe as Walker took strong kicks and punches from Gyor but was equally enamored when Walker returned the attacks with the same, if not more strength.  He looked over at Marcus and smiled, and then his jaw dropped as he saw the last thing he wanted to see for a very long time.  He unconsciously reached for his lightsaber, but found it gone...of course it was gone; he had checked it in with customs.  Marcus looked over at Jacen, and tried to figure out what was wrong, but could not see what was troubling the young man.

"How? ...It can't be...No..." Jacen said hoarsely, confused at what he was seeing.  He felt out in the force...Nothing, he was either seeing things or they were truly here.  If they were here, he would have to tell Uncle Luke soon.  

"Marcus, I have to go check something out, back in a minute."

"Ok, young Solo, be careful."

Jacen wandered through the crowd, only to find that whatever he had seen, was gone, maybe it had never been there, but who knows?  He wanders back over to Marcus and continues to watch the Mutai.  Walker is doing fairly well, and white 'blood' is dripping down Gyor's face.  Walker has some blood on his face, but very little.  He had gotten a lot better since their last match 2 years ago.  He smiled as Gyor hit the ground and didn't get back up.  The Muta-do advanced out of his chair and held up his scepter.

*********************************

Shaizla Kand Shai looked over at his mate, Vandred Lupis Shai, and gave fang filled smile.  They picked up the creatures lying on the table.  They gritted their teeth as it latched onto their bodies and then they walked out of the room.  They saw their next victim, and Shaizla pulled the long snake-like object from around his waist.  It contracted its muscles and became a short spear-like weapon.  They watched as Keltar Hurg Vogs and Sternem Kand Kornak herded the young pilot into his room.  Shaizla slipped into the room, unseen, and waited in the darkness, for Sam Mina to arrive at home.  

Sam hurried into his room and immediately locked the door.  He sighed and sat down on the couch.  He turned on ISN and watched as they announced the attacks on Vilcor 6.  The shadows had attacked again, and EarthGov was doing nothing about it.  He thought he saw something move in the shadows and stood up.  Suddenly a large alien was in front of him, stabbing him in the chest.  Sam fell to the ground.  The alien walked out of the room and twisted the weapon around his waist.  Sam slapped his wrist link but passed out soon after saying, "Nar...n............."


	11. Trouble in Babylon

**Chapter 10 – Trouble in ****Babylon******

************************************************************************

Sam groaned as he looked up.  Doctor Franklin hovered over his aching body.  He looked down at the large bandage on his chest.  The doctor looked down and noticed he was awake.

"Good afternoon Mr. Mina.  It seems you came pretty close to joining the Ensign over there," he said while motioning toward Ensign Ruel.

"Wha...What happened to me?  Who did this?  Why?" Sam managed to groan out.

"You were stabbed with a sword like weapon, approximately 1 meter in length, and we are still uncertain as to who and why they did this."

"I think I'm remembering now, very vague, but I think I saw a Narn."

"That's what I was afraid of; we have witnesses from yours and Ronald's murder that saw Narns.  To make things worse, I think they used the same weapon against you, but missed your heart by a few millimeters.  You are very lucky they missed."

"How long was I out?"

"9 hours."

Sam groaned and tried to sit up, and Doctor Franklin pushed him back to the bed.

"You need rest, doctor's orders."

Sam let his head drop to the pillow and almost instantly fell asleep.  

"Poor guy."

************************************************************************

Shaizla Kand Shai smiled as he wiped the blood from his weapon.  Laying it on the table, he pressed the side of his nose.  His face became distorted and then fell into his hands.  He placed the creature on the table next to the snake-like weapon.  Looking over, he saw Vandred Lupis Shai do the same.  Her face was distorted and the creature fell into her hands.  She placed it on the table and grinned.

_"At last, we have convinced the humans that these Narns are responsible for their crewmen's deaths," Shailzla said to his mate__._

_"Yes my love, we have, now we await orders from the Supreme Commander," Vandred said in response._

Shaizla ran a hand across Vandred's scarred and tattooed face.  He brushed her lips, and tickled each of the incisions in them.  She was busy running her hands across his new arm graft, recently gifted to him by the gods.  Yun Harla was very kind to her loyal subject, and had gifted him with many great skills.  He was a master of the Ooglith Masquer, and had very precise abilities with the amphistaff.  He grinned as he removed Vandred's armor, and tossed her to the floor.  He ripped his own clothing off and jumped down to the floor next to her, and they immediately began wrestling and clawing at each other's bodies.

************************************************************************

Jacen ran down the corridor to Master Luke's quarters.  He pressed the button on the wall, and waited for the doors to open.  After a few seconds the doors opened and Luke was standing there, wearing a bath robe.  Jacen looked over, and thought he saw movement on the bed.  

"What is it, Jacen?"

"Uncle Luke, I have reason to believe there are Yuuzhan Vong aboard the station."

"What?!?!  You have to be mistaken."

"I saw one, Uncle Luke, clear as daylight, standing in the Mutai audience."

"We'll have to alert the captain, and tell him to have his men watch out for them."

"Do you want me to tell him, or would you rather do it yourself?"

"You can do it.  I need to get back to my training exercises."

"Yeah, okay, you have fun, training..."

With that, Jacen turned and left the room.  The doors shut behind him, and he chuckled at his Uncle.  He knew that Luke wasn't training, well not in any manner he showed the Jedi students.  He walked down towards the command deck, hoping that Sheridan or somebody was there, that he could talk to.

**********************************

He arrived and saw a woman standing with her back towards him.  She was looking out the window at the surrounding space.  Jacen could sense that she was very calm while standing there.  He coughed and she spun around.  He had surprised her it seems.  

"Yes, young man, what can I do for you?"

"My name is Jacen Solo, I am Senator Leia Organa Solo's son, and I came by to talk to somebody about a possible threat to the station."

"Oh, you're Han's boy, he said a lot about you."

"You know my father, well, that makes things easier, since it's easier to say Han Solo than Senator Leia Organa Solo."

"Commander Susan Ivanova pleased to meet you.  So what about this threat?  Explain it to me."

"Well, I'm sure you've heard about the Yuuzhan Vong, right?"

"Yes, go on..."

"Well, I have reason to believe that there is one, if not more Yuuzhan Vong aboard the station."

"Really, well that's not good."

"Yeah, earlier, me and the ranger, Marcus..."

"You saw Marcus?"

"Yeah, well..."

"How did he look, was he sad?"

"Not that I could tell, I wasn't really paying to much attention, as I was saying..."

"Sorry, please go on."

"Thank you, Well me and Marcus were at the Mutai watching Walker Smith and Gyor, when I looked over and saw a Vong, I tried to scan for it in the force, but there was nothing, that could mean one of three things, I was seeing things, there is a species of alien here, that looks identical to the Vong, or it really was a Vong."

"I see, well I'll tell Garibaldi to have his men watch out for anything weird."

"Thank you."

"By the way, who won the fight, Walker or Gyor?"

"Walker won."

"So that explains why Garibaldi was in such a good mood a few minutes ago.  He offered to buy the whole command staff a round at the bar."

"Well, I'll be going now, talk to you later."

"Wait, how is your father?" she said, trying to stall him.

"He's doing pretty well, why?"

"Just wondering...Well see you later."

Jacen turned and left the room.  Susan walked back over to the observation port and sighed.  Solo's kid was just as dashing as his father.  *Why am I falling in love with every guy I meet all of a sudden?* she thought to herself.  She shook her head.  *I can't be with Jacen; he's only 20 or something, making him 10 years younger than me.  Plus, he's a telepath, I can't trust him.  But he's so darn handsome.  Damn it, I need to get back to work, busy, busy, busy!*  She stood there, alone, with nothing happening outside the station.  *Commander Susan Ivanova Solo...It's got a certain ring to it.*  She then smiled for the first time in a while.

Jacen walked down the corridor, with a huge grin on his face.  He looked just like his father did when he knew he was in love with Leia.  He looked over his shoulder and sighed.  

"Susan, what a pretty name..." he said with a sigh.

*Susan Ivanova Solo?  Nah, she would never go out with me, she's like 10 years older than I am...But still where is the harm in asking, I'll do it tomorrow, after breakfast.* 

He continued his journey back to Green 7 where he and Kyp were quartered.  He walked in and flopped on the bed, smiling from ear to ear.  He fell asleep right away.  In his dreams he saw Susan and him, and they were together, holding hands, kissing, and having fun.  She was smiling, and so was he.  *I like these dreams* he thought subconsciously.


	12. It Begins

**Chapter 11 – It Begins**

*********************************************

Kyp Durron looked directly into the eyes of Shaizla Kand Shai.  Shaizla's head was perfectly still, unblinking.  Kyp glanced down at the amphistaff and grinned.

"Nice job, Mister Morden," Kyp said to Morden as he pushed the lifeless head over on the table.

The recently removed head of the Yuuzhan Vong warrior rolled back and forth on the table, and finally came to rest.  Kyp picked up the two sections of the amphistaff and laughed as they fell limp in his hands.

"So, we have a deal?" Morden asked.

"Yeah, I have all the proof I will need of your associates' abilities.  What did you want again?"

"Sheridan."

"You want the Captain?"

"Yes."

"I'll see what I can do.  It won't be easy, but I think I can do it."

"Thank you Master Durron."

Morden walked out of the room.  Kyp looked down at the Vong head and smacked it across the room.  He breathed deeply and closed his eyes.  

*Can I really hand over the Captain to Morden and his associates, why do they want him?  Is it worth the life of one man I barely know, to save a whole galaxy?  I have to; they can even get us home, without any Vong in our way.  I'll do it tonight.*

Kyp sighed and turned on BabCom, and began watching some broadcast from Twentieth Century Earth.  It had a very fake looking capital starship, with an enormous crew for its size.  And they didn't even have fighters, just capital ships.  The main character was always forgetting his lines, and then inflecting them weirdly.  And the weapons appeared to totally suck.

*********************************************

"Hello Master Durron, how can I help you?"

Kyp looked Sheridan in the eyes and waved his hand.

"You will come with me."

"Hey Kyp you mind if I come with you?"

"Not at all, Captain," Kyp said with a smile.

He led Sheridan down to the docking bays.

"You will go past customs, unseen, and board the ship on the other side.  You will obey everything the crew tells you."

"I'm gonna go get on a ship right now, it was nice talking with you Master Durron," Sheridan said right before he snuck past customs and boarded the ship.  Kyp sighed and turned around.

"It's done.  We are going home, and the war will be over."

*********************************************

"Has anybody seen John?"

"No Ambassador Delenn, I haven't seen him in a few hours, why?"

"He never came home tonight."

Zack tapped the console in front of him and paged the Captain.

Nothing.

"C and C to Captain Sheridan, are you there?"

"I'm starting to get worried, Mr. Allen."

"Me too.  C and C to Captain John Sheridan, are you there?"

Silence.

*********************************************

He looked up as he felt the ship wrench.  It was taking off.  He looked over at his date.  She tapped her wrist-link, but only got static.  They had thought it would be better if they kept their relationship secret for a while, until things cooled down, and had snuck aboard the ship so nobody would see them.  

Then he looked out the porthole and saw the station rapidly shrinking away.

"Susan, I think we are in a little bit of trouble," he said as he stood up and stretched.

"Yeah, tell me about it, I was only supposed to leave my post for a few hours.  What is the Captain going to say when I don't come back in a little while?"

"They are opening the jump gate.  I hope this Morden fellow doesn't go very far."

"What did you say, Jacen?  Morden!?  I hope it's not The Morden.  The guy who works for the shadows."

"What are the chances of him actually getting onboard Babylon 5, let alone bringing a ship registered in his name."

"Yeah, you are probably right.  Maybe we should go talk to him and explain things."

Jacen walked up to the front of the cargo area in which they had been hiding, and opened the door.  Suddenly he stopped where he was going.  He felt the darkside right in front of him.  It was very concentrated.

"Hold up Susan, I'll be right back."

"But, Jace..."

"I can't put you in danger, now go hide behind those crates again."

"Alright, but you be careful."

Jacen reached down and grabbed his lightsaber.  Gripping it in his palm he slowly worked along the corridor.  Then he saw it.  In a small room, he saw a man, tied up in a chair.  He was bleeding all over his face and he appeared to be unconscious.  Jacen looked around and snuck into the room.  He lifted the man's head up and gasped.

"Hello, Knight Solo," a voice behind him said.

Whirling around, Jacen saw the voice's face.  He glared at it and ignited his lightsaber.

*********************************************

"Wake up, Knight Solo!" a voice commanded him.

Jacen opened his eyes and noticed he was tied up next to the other man.  He struggled in the chair, but couldn't get out.  He reached out into the force, but found he couldn't reach it.  He licked his dry lips and tasted blood on them.  He looked up at the source of the voice and growled at him.

"What are planning to do to us?" Jacen asked the man.

"My associates are going to ask you a few questions."

"OH YEAH!?  Well, I'd like to ask them a few things as well."

"Oh, you will get your chance, soon enough."

There was a shimmer in the air and a large black spider-like creature materialized.  It began to chirp, a small box on the table began speaking.  Jacen figured it was a translator.

"What do you want?" the box said.

"I want to get out of here and go home."

"What are you doing here?"

Jacen stalled, not knowing whether they knew about Susan yet.

"I saw Sheridan board the ship, and decided to follow him."

"You lie, where is she?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, I came here alone."

"You lie again, where is Commander Susan Ivanova, we know you were here with her."

Jacen gulped.  *I guess they found out about her, but couldn't find her.*

"He said, he came here alone, let him go, it's me you want," the man next to him said.

"No Captain, I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me."

"It's my job as commanding officer..."

"Be silent Sheridan, we are not talking with you; you will get your turn later," the translator interrupted.  

Sheridan was suddenly blown backwards across the room and into the wall.  The door shut as the other man left.  The creature chirped and its many eyes began glowing momentarily.  Jacen gulped as it stepped closer to him.


	13. The End Comes Nigh

**Chapter 12 – The End Comes Nigh**

*********************************************

"You did what?!" Luke screamed at the younger man.

"I'm sorry Master Luke.  I wasn't thinking straight," he replied.

"Listen Kyp, everything will be alright.  What ship did you tell him to board?"

"Um...I think it was called the..._Anduril..."_

"Okay, now we find out where it was going, and we head out after it."

"Yeah, I'll have Rouge Squadron prepare for departure."

"No, this is gonna be just you and me Kyp."

"Yes, Master Luke..." Kyp said sullenly.

"Go get ready, we leave in 15 minutes."

Kyp turned around and left the room.  He ran down the corridor to his room and quickly changed into his flight suit and threw his jedi robes on over it.

Meanwhile Luke opened a menu on the computer and found that the ship Anduril was heading to the Rim, some planet called Nargothrond.  Sending the coordinates to Artoo and telling him to prep the _Jade's Fire, he began donning his old flight suit.  The orange color was beginning to fade, from a combination of time and wear._

15 minutes later, Kyp and Luke blasted out of the docking bay and jumped into hyperspace.  Luke silently hoped that the hyperspace maps were as accurate as the computer said they were.

*********************************************

Jacen looked down as the claw dug deeper into his wrist.  His hand was resting in a large pool of his own blood and the edges of the pool were beginning to coagulate.  He looked up at the creature in front of him and tried using the force on it again, and like the four times before, it failed.

"If you are trying to torture me, this won't work, I've been through pain that you could never begin to imagine." Jacen asked in the calmest voice he could muster.

"Oh really?  Then perhaps we must increase the amount of pain we cause," It said as 3 more claws dug into his wrist and 4 very loud clicks were heard.  

Jacen's eyes were thrown wide open as a neurotoxin was injected into his skin.  It felt like the embrace of pain, only centralized in his wrist.  He reached down inside his body and suddenly the creature was flung back against the wall as Jacen threw his arm up and toward it.  Growling in the back of his throat he used the force to rip each of its claws from its many legs and watched it fall helplessly to the ground.  Looking over he saw his lightsaber and pulled it to his hand and ignited it.  Walking over to the Shadow he stabbed straight through its skull and watched it fall limp on the ground.

John Sheridan watched in fear from his chair in the corner.  Jacen turned around and his anger seemed to drift away.  He untied the Captain and helped him out of the chair.  The time Jacen had spent being tortured had allowed John to regain most of strength.

"What happened just now, Jacen?"

"I suddenly felt the force flowing through my body and I took action.  It is dead."

"But why did you suddenly regain your force powers?"

"I don't know..."

"But I do," a familiar female voice said from the ceiling.

"Susan?!"

She pulled the grating back and dropped down into the room.

"I found some weird furry lizard thing and it tried to bite me, so I shot it."

"That sounds like an Ysalamiri."

"Yeah that's what I figured, I heard Luke talking about one missing from its cage on The Rebel Dream, so I figured they must have taken it."

"But why would the Shadows need an Ysalamiri?"

"It would stop any of the Jedi from following it..."

Jacen suddenly turned around and let the force flow through him.  Susan handed John her spare PPG and they both pointed them at the door.  Jacen suddenly relaxed and John and Susan let out long sighs.

*********************************************

"Did you feel that, that surge in the force?"

"Yes, Kyp I did, we must be close, but who could have caused it?"

"I'm not sure, but it seems familiar."

"Artoo tells me we are almost there; prepare to drop out of hyperspace."

"Yes, Master Luke."

Luke and Kyp pushed forward on the hyperspace levers and a hole in the space-time continuum opened.  From the hole emerged a small craft, and the hole closed up behind it.  The blue swirl of hyperspace turned into star-lines and then individual stars formed.

"There it is, Master, in sector 11 by 38 by 42."

"I see it Kyp, wait up a second, we have to figure out how we are gonna do this...Wait..."

"What is it Luke?" 

"Jacen...?  Jacen is on that ship!"

"WHAT?!?!"

Luke sent out a thought through the force.  *Jacen, what the sith are you doing on that transport?*

*Um...It's a long story, guess who we found though?* Jacen sent back.

*Who?  And who exactly is WE?*

*Commander Ivanova and I have found and rescued Captain Sheridan...well sort of, we still need to get out of here.*

*What were you and Comm...Never mind, find a way off that ship, or a way for me and Kyp to get on board.*

*Yes Uncle Luke.*

*********************************************

"Uncle Luke and Kyp Durron are here.  We need to get out of here.  Can you walk Captain?"

"Yeah Jacen, I'll ask you two what you were doing when we get out of here."

Susan eyed Jacen and clenched her teeth.

Jacen kept his lightsaber ready and opened himself to the force, scanning ahead for enemies.  They manage to get up to the cockpit and find it occupied by Morden and a few other humans.  Jacen scans the rest of the ship and doesn't sense any other Shadows, so he signals for John and Susan to hold back as he puts the 3 humans into a light trance.  Dragging them out; he finds some rope and ties them up and places them in the cargo bay.  John sits down in the pilot's seat and turns it around, and sends a signal to Luke and Kyp.

"We're heading over there Luke, we should..."

"Um, John, we...we have a problem..."

"What is it Susan," he says turning around in the chair.  

Jacen is standing in a battle stance with his lightsaber ignited.

"Um, Luke...It may be a little while, Can you hold for a minute?"

"John, what's wrong, John...John?"

The comm unit explodes in a shower of sparks, a large claw narrowly missing John's arm.


End file.
